Here Comes Goodbye
by TheLaikynVictoria
Summary: On the verge of their big day, Ziva suddenly leaves with nothing but a goodbye for Tim and a promise to contact him if and when it was possible. Songfic for 'Here Comes Goodbye' by Rascal Flatts. 1st in my 'McGiva Never Was: The Songfic Chronicles'


_**A/N-Warning! Sad, angsty McGiva with a character death. You've been warned. **_  
_**By the way, I LOVE REVIEW! So please leave one. =]**_

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_**I can hear the truck tires coming up the gravel road/And its not like her to drive that slow/nothin's on the radio  
Footsteps on the front porch, I hear my doorbell/She usually comes right in/now I can tell**_

Tim finished adjusting the picture and then stood back to make sure it was level. After confirming that it was, he sank back into the large arm chair and sighed. Life could not get any better than it was right now.

He was engaged to the love of his life, they'd just bought this brand new, three bedroom house in Georgetown and they would be married just next month. He looked around the newly decorated home, and savored the feeling of content he was currently feeling.

But suddenly, he felt an unexplainable churning in his gut. All he'd eaten all day was a bowl of tomato soup, and he was sure it couldn't have been that. Maybe he was just starting to get nervous about the wedding.

He realized he'd drifted off when he woke up to the sound of tires driving over gravel. He stood up and stretched, letting out a long groan as he did, and then went to the window. He peered out and was surprised to see Ziva slowly driving up the driveway in her red Mini. (Surprised because she was supposed to be visiting friends and family in Israel)

Why was she driving so slow? That is most certainly _not_ like Ziva.

Tim turned around and quickly exited the study he had been in and went toward the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Something was wrong.

Horribly wrong.

He had just reached the bottom when he heard the doorbell ring, making him pause.

Now that was _definitely_ not like her. Why had she not just come in? Sure, the title of the house has Tim's name on it, but it was just as much hers as it was his.

He hurriedly opened the door to reveal a red-eyed Ziva, pacing back and forth.

"Tim..." She looked up at him, obviously unsure of what to say.

"Ziva." Tim stated. "What happened, what's wrong?"

_**Here comes goodbye, **_

"Tim, I cannot explain." She told him, taking his hands firmly in her own. "But I must go. We cannot wed next month. I must leave, and I am not sure when I can return."

She swallowed the lump that rose in her throat,

"I'm sure if I can ever return."

"Ziva, what..What are you talking about?" Tim asked, his breath quickening as fear set in. "Ziva, don't do this, Baby. Please."

"Tim. Sweet Timothy." Ziva grinned sorrowfully as she rubbed her hands up and down his arms. "I wish I could tell you more, but I cannot. Just now that I love you. I love you with all my heart."

"Then don't leave!' Tim exclaimed, quickly grabbing her hands and gripping them tightly. "Don't leave. Or..Or take me with you. Please, Ziver, don't do this."

"I cannot. I am so sorry." She shook her head. "Goodbye."

_**here comes the last time**_

She leaned up and kissed him, one hand on his cheek, one still being gripped by his.

"I love you, Tim."

He watched her walk away, dumbstruck.

This couldn't be happening. Not to him.

Not now.

"Ziva." He whispered, his hand still raised to where it had been gripping hers.

As the Mini went down the street, he couldn't help but wonder;

Would that be the last time she kissed him? Told him she loved him?

Would that be the last time he ever saw her?

_**Here comes the start of every sleepless night/The first of every tear I'm gonna cry  
Here comes the pain/Here comes me wishing things had never changed  
That she was right here in my arms tonight/But here comes goodbye**_

Tim sat down on the front steps, propped his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands.

He was a man. He didn't cry.

But the tears streaming down his face said something different.

He doesn't know how long he sat there, but when he saw the sun coming up, he knew it had been quite a while.

He couldn't believe how unbearable the pain was. Ziva was gone and maybe never coming back.

How is he supposed to go on?

He sat there, on the porch where she had left, wanting nothing more than to hold her tight in his arms.

_**I can hear her say I love you like it was yesterday/And I can see it written on her face that she had never felt this way  
One day I thought I'd see her with her daddy by her side/And violins would play here comes the bride**_

_One Year Earlier_

"I can't believe you're actually going to do it, Timmy!" Abby jumped up and down excitedly, clapping her hands. "Finally, finally, finally!"

"Abby.." Tim grinned.

"I mean, I told you that you just needed to get it over with!" She continued, flailing her arms about. "She'd say yes, I just know she would, and even if she didn't, I mean-"

"If who didn't what?"

Tim shot Abby a death glare as Ziva entered the lab.

"Hey, Ziva!" Abby exclaimed. "Oh, uhm..If...if.."

"If you didn't come down to the lab, Abby was going to call you." Tim jumped in, breathing an inward sigh of relief as Ziva nodded.

"Alright." She stated. "Gibbs wants you upstairs, McGee."

"M'kay." Tim leaned over and pecked Ziva on the cheek, and proceeded toward the elevator. He could feel the butterflies flapping about in his stomach as he pressed the button that would send him to the squadroom.

_Later That Evening_

"Welcome to Alfonso's, do you have a reservation?" The host greeted Tim and Ziva at the door.

"Yes, two for Gemcity." Tim told him, grinning over at Ziva.

As they were led to a table, she nudged him,

"so is Mr. Gemcity paying for this dinner?"

"I'd like to think that Mr. Gemcity's and my bank accounts are one in the same." Tim told her with a chuckle.

Once they were seated, Tim casually placed a cupped hand on the table top in between them.

"What are you doing?" Ziva asked him, looking from his hand to his face.

Tim inhaled deeply before lifting his hand to reveal a ring box, opened to show a beautiful diamond and emerald ring.

"Tim..."

You could probably guess what her answer was.

_**Why does it have to go from good to gone?  
Before the lights turn on, and you're left alone/Oh, all alone,  
But here comes goodbye**_

_Present_

It had been but three weeks since Ziva walked out of his life. Everyone at NCIS was devastated as well, but Tim had taken to living in a sort of funk, turning himself into a pessimist in his every day life. Every day, he went home to the house he should have shared with her, and every day he hoped and prayed with all his might that she'd walk through that door.

And every day, he was all alone.

That's how it was, day in and day out. Tony, Abby, Ducky, Gibbs and Jimmy all tried to help him in any way they could, while also dealing with their own grief at Ziva's sudden departure.

It had been four months since she left, and there had been no word on where she was or what she was doing.

Or if she was alive.

But one day, exactly four months and one day after she'd left, Tim was sitting at home in his study that contained his typewriter, jazz collection, and his hundreds of books, when his phone rang. The number was strange, a two digit area code and then seven following numbers.

"Timothy McGee." He answered.

The heavily Israeli-accented voice on the other end was garbled, as if it was in an area with extremely bad reception, as it said,

"you are Timothy McGee, Ziva David's fiance?"

A glimmer of hope,

"yes."

"I am sorry, but she is dead. She will be transported to Dr. Mallard at NCIS as soon as it is possible."

Breathless, Tim let the phone slip from his hand as his heart clenched and the tears fell uncontrollably.

She was gone.

_**Here comes goodbye, here comes the last time/Here comes the start of every sleepless night  
The first of every tear I'm gonna cry/Here comes the pain  
Here comes me wishing things had never changed/That she was right here in my arms tonight, **_

The days following the fateful phone call were a blur to Tim. Ziva's body arrived in Ducky's autopsy a few days after the call, and afterwards, Ducky had some shocking news for Tim, who hadn't seen Ziva's body when it arrived.

"Timothy, if I may speak with you." Ducky motioned for Tim, who was sitting at his desk, from outside the bullpen.

"Ducky." Tim solemnly greeted with a slight nod as he approached him.

"Timothy, I have some news that I feel will be very difficult for you to comprehend." Ducky told him, obviously nervous.

"What is it, Duck?"

"Ziva was pregnant." He said softly. "She was about 19 weeks along."

"No."

"I am so sorry, Timothy."

"Please, Ducky, no..."

"Timothy..."

"No!"

With that, Tim ran toward the elevator and got in, thankful it was empty, and pressed a random button. He leaned against the back wall and sobbed with abandon. When the doors opened, he wasn't really surprised to find himself at autopsy. He slowly exited the elevator and went toward the darkened room.

The door opened with a soft _'swish'_, and Tim entered. Her body lay on the furthest slab back, a pristine white sheet covered her. A small but obvious bump protruded from her middle, and Tim let out a choked sob when he saw it. He ever-so-slowly walked toward her, his hands shaking and his vision blurry. He reached her and simply stared at the outline of her face underneath the sheet, not exactly sure what he was waiting for, but waiting anyway.

Finally, after a few, long minutes, he slowly pulled the sheet back to her shoulders, revealing her face.

Her beautiful face.

"Oh, Ziva." He said softly, resting his hand on her belly and gently rubbing his thumb back and forth. "I miss you so much."

"It was a boy."

Tim didn't turn around at Ducky's statement; he simply nodded.

"She would have been such a great mom." He whispered.

"That she would have," Ducky agreed, "and you, a great father."

Tim leaned down and pressed his lips gently to her forehead,

_**But here comes goodbye**_

"goodbye, Ziva."


End file.
